


blonde.

by jungwoostrap



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Angst, Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2019-09-10
Packaged: 2020-09-02 00:29:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20267059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jungwoostrap/pseuds/jungwoostrap
Summary: in which na jaemin is a pureblood slytherin raised by his father to hate anyone who isn't a pureblood or anyone who IS a gryffindor, but after a minor hair mishap brings him and muggleborn gryffindor lee jeno close together, he begins to lose that hatred and gain other feelings instead.





	1. the hogwarts express.

“nana, old sport! it’s lovely to finally see you after no contact all summer!” lee donghyuck said pointedly, plopping down into the seat across from na jaemin and slamming the door of their train cabin shut. 

“ah, haechannie, dad kept me busy interning at the ministry. he wants me to learn up so i can take his place when he finally retires.” jaemin closed his book and looked up at his best friend, who had made quite some noise getting into the cabin.

“and did you learn anything?” another pointed sentence from donghyuck, one they both knew the answer to.

“of course i didn’t, hyuck, i don’t understand a thing about his job. i don’t know what i’m going to do once the year ends and i’ll actually have to take over his job.” jaemin’s sigh sounded throughout the cabin, and donghyuck could feel his frustration, so he opted to steer the conversation in a different direction.

“oh, nana, did you see? mark and jeno were in front of me when i got onto the train, and jeno was wearing a hat, completely covering his head. i thought maybe he was trying out some new muggle fashion trend which definitely didn’t suit him, but then i heard mark say something about how it can’t look all that bad and asked jeno to show him, and jeno got so upset he stormed all the way to the back of the train car! i wonder what he’s hiding under there…” with that, donghyuck gasped, his face filling with glee. “maybe he’s bald! oh, jaemin, what i wouldn’t give to see that lee boy bald- i reckon it would definitely be a sight for sore eyes, don’t you?”

jaemin couldn’t help but snort as he shook his head, the thought of that image alone cheering him up almost completely.

he opened his mouth to respond, but was immediately interrupted with the cabin door slamming open. huang renjun stood in the space, his eyes wide and cheery. as the ravenclaw stepped inside the cabin and closed it behind himself before taking a seat next to jaemin, donghyuck let out a very pointed, very obnoxious sigh. 

“renjun, what are you doing here? jaemin and i were having a fantastically wonderful conversation about jeno, how can we possibly continue it knowing you’ll just rat us out and tell him whatever we say?” donghyuck sneered at the renjun, and if he hadn’t made it clear for the last two years that he hated the ravenclaw boy, the look on his face now certainly made it clear for him. 

his snide attitude was only met with kindness, though, as renjun simply looked at him with a sympathetic smile. 

“you know, duckie,” renjun began, watching donghyuck cringe at the nickname. “although i’m friends with jeno now, i was friends with the two of you first. sometimes, every once in a while, i wish you’d remember that you can trust me.” his voice dripped with sincerity, and donghyuck rolled his eyes. 

“renjun, first of all, don’t call me duckie. not anymore. second, just because nana stayed friends with you after what happened fifth year, doesn’t mean i am in any way obligated to do the same. hurt doesn’t have a time limit.” and with that, donghyuck stood up, ripped open the sliding door to the cabin, and stepped out. before he closed it, however, he looked back at renjun. “and my hurt definitely hasn’t expired.” after that, he stormed off, most likely to find the hondeyduke’s express cart, jaemin presumed.

renjun turned to face jaemin, looking positively horrified. “oh, min, i’m so sorry, i hope you know i don’t purposely try to start things with donghyuck.” 

“i know, injunie. hyuck just holds grudges like nobody’s business. i don’t blame you.” jaemin gave renjun a sympathetic smile, patting him on the knee before returning to his book. 

————————

“oh, come on, jeno! why can’t we just take a peek?” jisung whined and reached up to pull at jeno’s hat, only to receive a light smack on the hand. 

“yeah, j, i’m sure it’s not that bad! you’re probably just overreacting. you do tend to do that, you know.” chenle chimed in, his voice full of reassurance. 

finally, with a defeated sigh, jeno lifted his hands to hit beanie and pulled it off, his eyes squeezed shut. 

in that moment, the cabin fell so silent that one could have heard a wand crack, had it happened. 

“merlin’s beard, jeno, what did you do to make it look like that?” mark gasped, immediately met with a hard smack on the shoulder by chenle. 

“guys, i told you, it’s an utter nightmare. i don’t know what i was thinking, i knew i wasn’t good at dye spells yet.” jeno leaned forward and covered his face to hide to red engulfing his cheeks. 

“well, i think i could probably-” chenle’s words were cut short by a thump, followed by a loud, piercing laugh from just outside their cabin, and they all recognized the voice. 

jisung stood up and slammed open the cabin door to see donghyuck on the ground, gathering up dropped chocolate frogs and boxes of bertie bott’s every flavor beans. 

“ah, donghyuck, what a truly lovely surprise. visiting us in our cabin, i see! whatever could you be here for?” jisung asked snidely and watched as the older boy slowly stood to his feet, stuffing his sweets into the inner pockets of his robes. 

donghyuck opened his mouth to respond with something he thought was absolutely egregious, but immediately held back once he saw movement behind jisung. it was lee jeno. no- it was lee jeno with absolutely fried hair, looking somewhat blonde, but definitely not presentable to even the lowest in knockturn ally. 

“oh, my god, lee! see, i knew something was up. i was really hoping you’d be bald under that cap, but i see this and it’s just so, so much better. i never thought i’d say this to you, of all people, but you’ve absolutely made my week.” the slytherin boy howled with laughter before dashing off to his own cabin, packets of sweets falling from his robes as he ran. 

“what am i supposed to do now? of all people, i wanted to make sure donghyuck and jaemin never saw this, it’s just another reason to poke fun at me.” jeno groaned and pulled his beanie back on, then leaned back against his seat. 

“oh, j, it’ll be alright! i’m sure chenle can help fix your hair, isn’t that right, lele?” jisung directed his kind eyes to chenle, who nodded in agreement. 

“i can, actually! i’ve almost completely mastered dye spells since last year, the only problem is we’d have to wait until after dinner and the sorting, because it still takes me hours to complete a dye spell.” 

“oh, that’s so long from now…” jeno trailed off, already dreading the teasing he’d receive at dinner. “but i do suppose later is better than never, isn’t it?”

as the words left his lips, the train whistle blew loudly, signaling they’d reached their destination- hogwarts. it felt good to be back at hogwarts, it was like a second home to jeno and he always felt pure excitement when he arrived on the grounds. 

only right now, he was more focused on how he’d avoid jaemin and donghyuck, who he was absolutely certain would be waiting for him when the train was unloading.


	2. the incident.

once the hogwarts express finally came to a full stop, students immediately began unloading. as the line of young wizards shuffling off the train slowly began to decrease, jeno stood up and, as much as he dreaded the thought of doing so, followed behind jisung through the walkway toward the front of the train car, keeping one earbud in his ear, able to listen to music on his phone after enchanting it a year prior to work on the grounds, where most muggle devices usually didn’t function properly. he already knew what was coming, and braced for it the moment he heard three chattering voices die down as he neared na jaemin’s designated cabin. it wasn’t actually designated, with a name tag or anything, but he and donghyuck had been sitting in the same cabin for seven years, and at this point nobody tried to change that.

jeno attempted to get past jaemin’s cabin as quickly as he could, but as he passed it, none other than na jaemin himself stuck his arm out, blocking jeno from passing through.

“ah, well, if it isn’t mr. lee jeno!” jaemin exclaimed, a wide grin set across his face, though the grin was entirely menacing and not at all kind. “that’s a...lovely...hat you’ve got on, there, lee.” he opened his mouth to continue, but quickly stopped short when he noticed the white wire protruding from jeno’s ear and ending in a sleek black box which he recognized as a cell phone. instead of continuing what he was planning on saying about jeno’s hat, he looked back at jeno, then immediately snatched the phone from his hands and slammed his finger on the home button.

“who the fuck is taylor swift?” jaemin stared at the cloudy pink and blue photo on the screen, momentarily forgetting he was supposed to hate jeno- right now he was just trying to understand what exactly he was looking at.

“she’s a musician, jaemin. she’s very talented. can i please have my phone back, now?” his words were polite, as usual, but he was still incredibly antsy and was expecting the worst from jaemin- he was definitely behind schedule for his yearly First Night Bullying Session™. 

“no, i wanna listen.” jaemin responded plainly, but it still took jeno somewhat by surprise.

“what?”

“did i stutter, lee? show me a song, you said she’s talented and i want to see if you’re right.”

jeno nearly complied, holding up an earbud for jaemin, but donghyuck interrupted with a loud scoff. “jaemin, can you stop humoring the mudblood and get off the train? i want to give the first years a good scare before the sorting.” donghyuck wiggled his eyebrows at jaemin and held up a fake spider and tapped it with his wand. it immediately transformed into an actual spider, wiggling around in donghyuck’s grasp before he tapped it again, returning it to its previous state.

“oh, hyuck, you know i can’t miss that.” jaemin chuckled, then turned his attention back to jeno, shoving the phone back in the gryffindor’s hands. “i’ll see you at dinner, jeno.” another smile, just as menacing, as expected. with that, he and donghyuck pushed past a terribly confused jeno, leaving only himself and renjun left on the car. 

he looked at renjun, opening and closing his mouth in exasperation a few times before finally speaking. “was that conversation strange, or is it just me?”

“well, considering jaemin didn’t assault you, hex you, or verbally abuse you the way he normally does, i’d say yes, it was a strange encounter.” renjun’s response was playful, but inside, he was feeling just as confused as poor jeno was.

jeno and renjun finally left the train, and renjun talked animatedly to jeno about how he’d spent his summer in china visiting family and had run into minghao, a friend of theirs who’d graduated the year before. jeno did his best to pay attention, but he kept thinking about how out of character his interaction with jaemin was- although jaemin had still been snide, he certainly hadn’t been as bad as he normally was upon first day encounters with jeno, and his sudden interest in jeno’s muggle music left him perplexed.

what a strange interaction, indeed.

\----------------

“nana, i can’t believe you didn’t even hex lee. i thought you were gonna singe his eyebrows off!” donghyuck whined loudly, making it as obvious as possible that he was disappointed that he didn’t witness a show back on the train.

“sorry, hyuck, i got distracted by his muggle music.” jaemin simply shrugged as they entered the great hall.

“why does it even matter to begin with? first of all, nobody is better than odd eye circle, and they’re witches!”

“odd eye circle literally market to muggles, donghyuck.” a sigh escaped jaemin’s lips, and he shook his head, unable to take his friend seriously.

“and? that’s beside the point, they went to hogwarts, they’re witches, and they’re witches who make music. my point is proven. anyway, why do you even care what lee jeno thinks about music? if it’s recommended by him, it’s probably just positively atrocious.” donghyuck crinkled his nose in sheer disdain when he said the gryffindor’s name, then stuck out his tongue.

“it has nothing to do with it being jeno, haechannie, i just thought the photo was pretty, is all, and if the photo was pretty, maybe the music is, too.” jaemin chuckled, taking a seat near the front of the slytherin table, donghyuck following suit immediately after. “even if it is weird that the photo didn’t move.”

before the conversation could continue, headmistress boah stood up from her seat, and without her even needing to speak a word, the entire hall fell silent. it may have been partly because she was half veela, but she also had the utmost respect from every student and professor at hogwarts due to how she took part in the second wizarding war, and when she had something to say, absolutely everyone listened.

“good evening, everyone! i just want to say how lovely it is to see all of you again, and how happy i am to see new faces, as well! before we get to sorting, i just want to remind everyone that although the forest is no longer forbidden during the day, it is still utterly, completely out of bounds to any and all students after dusk, no matter the circumstances. i trust you will all keep that in mind during any and all antics that occur this year.” although boah’s tone was firm, she still held a kind smile on her lips, which somehow made the message even clearer for everyone in the hall. “now that that’s out of the way, let the sorting commence!”

she held her arm out, directing the collective attention of the students onto professor lee taemin, who held the infamous sorting hat nestled in his arms. he set the hat down onto a stool next to boah and looked out at the tables filled with students, a smile spreading on his lips at the astonished faces of the first years, especially the muggleborns who were probably terribly confused as to what a ratty old hat could possibly have to do with sorting them into their houses.

the hat launched into an eons-long poem that jaemin honestly just didn’t feel like listening to for the seventh year in a row, and he subsequently zoned out until the sounds of applause snapped him back to reality.

“nana, look over at the gryffindor table. the lee boy is staring at you, i think you’ve got an admirer!” donghyuck cooed, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

jaemin followed donghyuck’s gaze and, sure enough, lee jeno was sitting at the gryffindor table, wedged between jeno’s cousin, mark, and son hyejoo, a sixth year girl who jaemin recognized as not only mark’s best friend, but donghyuck’s ex girlfriend. the two were tossing things at each other over jeno, but despite the chaos surrounding him, jeno was only focused on one thing- jaemin. he was squinting at him and his lips were curved into a frown, but not one of malice or even annoyance, simply one of confusion. he quickly realized he’d caught jaemin’s attention, though, and his eyes widened as he turned away, pretending to take interest in whatever mark and hyejoo were having such intense discourse over.

“damn, jaemin, do you and the mudblood have some weird thing going on that i don’t know about?” donghyuck teased. jaemin internally winced at donghyuck’s use of the outdated slur; sure, he hated jeno as much as the next person, but was that word really necessary.

“haechannie, you know i would never even think of jeno in such a way. you flatter him with that question, but all it does is insult me.” jaemin proceeded to make gagging noises, pointing in his mouth for effect, which left donghyuck completely amused. 

by this point, the sorting had finished, and their tables were full of food. jaemin had barely even stuck a pumpkin pasty in his mouth before donghyuck grabbed him by the arm and pulled him out of his seat excitedly.

“hyuck, what do you want, can’t you see i’m trying to eat?” jaemin sighed dramatically, though the smile on his face showed he didn’t quite care that his meal was interrupted.

“you and i, my dear nana, are going on a little field trip.” donghyuck sang, then dragged jaemin all the way to the gryffindor table, where they stopped and stood behind one boy with a beanie on his head, with donghyuck staring down at him expectantly. lee jeno. the chattering around him quickly fell silent, leaving only jeno to continue talking, something about a show of state champs and wheezers? it didn’t make any sense at all to jaemin, he just chalked it up to being muggle nonsense. 

it took mark clearing his throat and nodding toward the two slytherin boys for jeno to stop speaking and turn around. his wide smile faded the moment he saw the boys, and the sheer glee left his eyes.

“donghyuck, jaemin, hi.” he stammered as he stood up, and in that moment he felt like he could throw up. here it was, the big event of the evening, he could feel that it was going to happen at any moment. 

“jeno, dear jeno. we’re just here to do what should’ve happened on the train.” donghyuck’s smile was terrifying, even jaemin could acknowledge that. he didn’t know what his friend was about to do, but he knew it couldn’t be good.

poor jeno didn’t even get a chance to respond before donghyuck pulled out his wand, and every one of his friends stood up, gripping their own wands, ready to defend whatever hex donghyuck was about to cast onto jeno.

“wingardium leviosa.” donghyuck said, pointing his wand at jeno’s hat. his words were simple, malicious, and effective. he lifted his wand and effectively raised jeno’s beanie, then flicked it to the side, where it slid across the floor and landed at a second year hufflepuff girl’s feet.

“oh, jeno, darling. didn’t anyone ever teach you not to cast spells on yourself if you haven’t mastered them yet? no? well, surely someone at least told you how important it is to take care of your hair. wouldn’t want it to end up like, well, like that.” he gestured toward the fried, burnt mess that was jeno’s hair and sneered.

jaemin didn’t understand why jeno looked so horrified, it was just hair, after all, and anyone who was good at a quick dye spell or repair spell could have easily fixed it, but the glossy, watery look in jeno’s eyes told jaemin that it was the response donghyuck was giving right now that made the outcome of his hair so awful.

jeno said nothing, but a single tear shone on his cheek before he silently pushed past jaemin and walked out of the great hall. if you asked jaemin, his pure silence and calmness was the scariest thing about this entire interaction.

mark stood up and looked from jaemin, to donghyuck, back to jaemin, then, finally, back to donghyuck, before brandishing his own wand and pointing it at him. he didn’t say a single word, but within seconds, donghyuck’s hair went from a deep blue to a fiery red- literally. if hades from that muggle movie hercules (which happened to be the only muggle movie jaemin knew absolutely anything about) had red hair instead of blue, he would’ve looked exactly like donghyuck, flames and all. of course, the flames weren’t burn inducing, but that didn’t mean jaemin didn’t instinctively cast an aguamenti spell to put out his best friend’s hair.

“you know, donghyuck, for as awful as you are, i’d really hoped that this year, maybe, just maybe you’d stop being such a constant dick. of course, i was wrong, but it’d be utterly fantastic if for once you ceased to act the way you do and leave us alone. it would really be a dream.” mark’s words came out in what jaemin could only describe as a snarl, vicious and full of pure anger.

for some reason, this bit from mark seemed to get to donghyuck, and he blinked in response before exiting the great hall, but not before muttering a quiet, “bold of a lee boy to expect anything of me.”

jaemin and mark stood there in silence, both looking equally overwhelmed about the events that had just occured, before jaemin finally broke the silence and said something that took both mark and himself by surprise.

“i’m sorry.”

with that, he ran out of the great hall, ready to search for his best friend.


	3. the room of requirement.

as jaemin neared a corner, he heard a mix of sniffling and very distressed mumbling. it definitely wasn’t donghyuck, but jaemin had a pretty good idea as to who it was. once he rounded the corner, his suspicions were confirmed- lee jeno was sitting on a bench, his wand swirling around his head as he muttered a dye spell over and over. only, it didn’t seem to be working any better than it had before, seeing as his hair was now a very blotchy mess of pinks, greens, and yellows.

“jeno?” jaemin called out, then immediately winced at the way his voice loudly bounced off the walls and echoed in the silent hall. as soon as he spoke, jeno stood up, staring at jaemin with a hurt he’d never seen before.

“what do you want, jaemin? was it not enough back there that you had to come and find me, to just make it all worse?” jeno spat his words at jaemin, and the slytherin winced at the anger in his voice.

“i actually wasn’t coming to find you. i was looking for donghyuck.” jaemin began, then paused. “i didn’t tell him to do that, jeno, and i didn’t expect it to happen either.”

“see, for some reason i really doubt that, jaemin. i don’t know why, maybe because it’s been like this for the last seven years, but i just really doubt that you didn’t encourage that.”

yeah, jaemin had to admit that that hurt just a little bit.

“jeno, i didn’t. don’t you think, as someone who’s been the butt of my jokes and pranks since first year, that if i had a part in that, i’d own it?” 

that must’ve gotten through to jeno, because his expression softened and he sat back down onto the bench. 

“i’m not trying to change the subject by asking this, but i do have to know- why are you trying to cast more dye spells on yourself out here?” jaemin asked, sitting next to jeno tentatively. 

“i don’t know the password to get past the fat lady this year, yet.” jeno admitted, and sniffled quietly. “and i wanted to fix my hair, i thought if i tried enough times it would work at some point.”

“for once, i am truly not trying to be rude, but it definitely didn’t work, lee.” although jaemin kept a straight face, his words elicited a soft laugh from jeno.

“yeah, well.”

jaemin waited for jeno to continue, but after a few beats, he realized jeno wasn’t going to continue.

“i can fix it.” 

jeno looked up at jaemin, and for a split second, it looked as if he was considering it. “how do i know you won’t just hex me?” he asked, only half joking.

“jeno, i mastered dye spells years ago, i doubt more than maybe two of your friends can do them properly, and they’re all probably about to knock out dead asleep right now anyway. i’m raising a white flag and offering a solution to this mess because for once, i feel bad. i assure you that you can trust me, just this one time.” jaemin’s voice held only sincerity, and when jeno inspected the slytherin’s face, he realized there wasn’t a trace of malice or cynicism.

jeno let out a sigh and shook his head, not really seeing any other option. “okay, yeah, i’ll let you fix it. but, jaemin, if i even sense that you’re up to something, i won’t hesitate to beat your ass.”

“jeno, i’m going to be honest, you’ve never threatened me before and, quite frankly, it’s both incredibly jarring and a bit amusing.” jaemin chuckled before standing up and smoothing out the creased fabric of his pants. 

jeno followed suit, stuffing his wand into his robe and raising an eyebrow at jaemin’s statement. “well, i think based on tonight’s events, my threat is pretty valid, don’t you?” 

jaemin certainly did agree, and expected jeno would follow through with said threat if pushed to that point. 

he supposed he’d cross that bridge if he ever got there. 

——————

“remind me again where exactly you’re taking me.” 

“jeno, i already told you. we’re going to the room of requirement so i can fix your hair without getting caught by a professor or a prefect for being out of our dorms.” jaemin sighed before rounding yet another corner, then grinding to a halt in front of...a wall. 

“jaemin, this is a wall.” jeno’s voice was filled with confusion, and jaemin couldn’t contain the snicker that left his mouth. 

“it’s the room of requirement.”

“alright, well, again, this is a wall.” 

“this wall is the entrance to the room of requirement, lee.” jaemin was more than entirely amused at jeno’s bewilderment at the slytherin calling a wall an entrance, so he waited a few beats before continuing. “you were probably expecting a proper door, i know, but that tidbit is an entirely incorrect piece of information from stories we’re told about hogwarts pre-second wizarding war, mistranslated from years of retelling. it’s like that muggle game, what do you call it? telly phone? that. either way, there’s no door, just this wall.”

jeno had no words, just wide eyes and a very questioning look washed over his face, so jaemin instead walked forward to open the wall. 

or, at least, he thought that’s what jaemin was going to do. instead, the slytherin walked right past the wall, pivoted on his heels, and walked back toward jeno, then repeated the process, all while seeming to think incredibly hard about something. 

“jaemin, i thought we were going into the room. why are we stopping for a think session?” his words weren’t cynical or cruel in any way, he really was just very confused as to why jaemin had decided now was the time to think so hard about something. 

jeno’s thoughts were interrupted as the bricks in the wall began to pull apart, opening up to reveal a large room filled with chairs and tables. 

“jaemin, how did you-“

“you just have to walk past it three times and think about what you need, and that’s what you’ll get. i just thought about us needing a room to hide out in, and that’s what we got.” jaemin shrugged before grabbing jeno’s arm and dragging him inside, the bricks quickly closing off the entrance once they entered. 

“okay, sit down over on a couch. it’s going to take a long time, so sitting in a chair wouldn’t exactly be the most comfortable choice.” 

jeno complied almost immediately, sinking into the comfiest looking couch in the room. he was immediately followed by jaemin, who sunk his knees against the cushions, his wand already brandished. once jaemin went to work on jeno’s hair, the slytherin couldn’t help but begin to speak, already dreading any prolonged silence that might come while he worked. 

“so, before anything else, i think i should tell you that donghyuck’s stunt didn’t exactly go unpunished.” 

“what, did headmistress boah just happen to catch wind of what he did, and bar him from the quidditch team? or perhaps professor liu saw, and she sentenced him to a month of cleaning cauldrons.” jeno’s words were light and joking, and jaemin couldn’t help but to laugh along with him. 

“no, actually. your cousin, he, uh, he kind of set hyuck’s hair on fire.”

the response that jaemin’s statement elicited from jeno was, to put it simply, beyond priceless. 

“he what?!” jeno was completely astonished, more than shocked that his best friend had done something so bold. 

“yep, he set lee donghyuck’s hair on fire. he also mentioned something about how he’d hoped hyuck would’ve been different this year, i’m not too sure about what that meant, but it certainly did affect hyuck.” jaemin shrugged, making it clear that he was still unsure about the meaning of what he’d just relayed to jeno. 

jeno’s reaction, though, made it seem he knew much more than jaemin did. though his mouth fell open into a small ‘o’, he quickly closed his mouth, his expression softening as he looked down at his hands. 

“jeno, what do you know?” jaemin prodded, and jeno knew jaemin well enough to know that he wouldn’t give up until he knew of anything he didn’t already know. 

“well, i mean, i guess mark had his own reasons for wanting donghyuck to maybe be a little less awful this year.” jeno’s words were jumbled together, and jaemin rolled his eyes and sighed loudly. 

“come on, lee. what are you not telling me about your cousin and my best friend?” 

by this point, jaemin had finished with the dye spell, and was using a weak ventus jinx to dry out the ends of jeno’s hair, circle his wand around jeno's head and gently fluffing his hair with his fingers. 

“um, mark may be just a little, tiny bit in love with donghyuck?”

though jeno’s words tumbled out quickly and in one breath, jaemin understood him perfectly. he concluded his ventus jinx and pulled back, looking at jeno in disbelief and confusion.

“i’m sorry, why would he be in love with donghyuck?” 

“well, mark and donghyuck may have this...thing...going on. they’ve been seeing each other on and off in secret since the end of last school year. i don’t know all the details and i don’t think i want to, but i have a feeling that tonight might’ve marked the end of that fling.” 

jaemin didn’t know what to say, nor did he know what to think. 

why didn’t donghyuck tell him about this?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hii,,,,i hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, i know it's long overdue and i'm sorry <3 i also know it's a bit short, and i can assure u guys that the chapters will grow longer as the fic progresses! pls leave comments about what u think and what you'd like to see, i'm always open to input! <3


	4. a dormitory revelation.

jaemin sat against donghyuck’s trunk, watching as his best friend fixed his tie before class. 

“so, you and mark, huh?” his lips formed a knowing half smile, one that donghyuck missed when he turned to pull his class robe out of an armoire. 

“you act like you didn’t literally see what happened, nana. he lit my hair on fire.” donghyuck’s sigh was angry and dramatic, and jaemin knew without even seeing his best friend’s face that he was aggressively rolling his eyes. 

“hyuck, i think you know that’s not what i’m referring to.”

donghyuck immediately froze, and although mere seconds passed, it felt like forever before he finally turned around, his expression completely blank. 

“how did you find out?” his voice held about as much emotion as his face, and his words sounded completely monotonous. 

“not from mark, i’ll tell you that.”

silence, followed by a sigh, one much less angry and much more defeated than the one before. donghyuck settled down onto his mattress and twirled his wand around in his fingers, opening and closing his mouth multiple times before finally speaking. 

“i don’t know when it started, or how. i just know i started looking at him more, and i started noticing how often he looked at me. i liked how i felt when i looked at him, i guess it just kind of took off from there.”

“haechannie, i’m your best friend, you could’ve told me. you know i wouldn’t have judged you, if that’s what you were worried about.” 

donghyuck scoffed and looked straight at his best friend. “you have enough on your plate, what with your secret, undying love for mark’s cousin and all. i doubted you needed my infatuation with mark to add onto that.” 

“wait, i’m sorry- my what for mark’s cousin?” jaemin held up a hand, as if to pause the conversation, and shook his head in disbelief. “what are you talking about, hyuck? i don’t have feelings for jeno.”

“oh, please, nana. i see the way you look at him versus the way you look at everyone else. and you’re so much less hard on him than his other friends, something that’s changed drastically in the last year and a half. maybe you don’t realize it, but everyone else does.”

“what? donghyuck, who is everyone?” 

“mark, renjun, i think even the fourth years jeno hangs out with are starting to catch on. it seems like you and jeno himself are the only ones who aren’t aware.” donghyuck chuckled and patted jaemin’s knee. “plus, we all noticed the fact that both of you happened to be missing from your house dorms last night. what were you even doing? because i certainly don’t believe you weren’t together.”

“i was fixing his hair.” jaemin replied absentmindedly, and began twirling his wand around, white wispy smoke emitting from the wand’s tip into the form of his patronus, a small, graceful black and white cat, which slinked around trunks and bedposts. “he was nice, actually.”

“yeah, so is mark, when he has his tongue down my throat and can’t talk. that doesn’t mean he’s tolerable all the time.” donghyuck snorted. 

“hyuck, we didn’t make out. it wasn’t like that, we just talked while i did his hair.”

“you just...talked...to lee jeno? and you enjoyed it? please, nana, please continue what you were saying about how you have absolutely no feelings for jeno, none whatsoever.” 

“i don’t, haechannie. and i never will. end of discussion.”

after that, jaemin stood up and stuffed his wand in the inner pocket of his class robes, his patronus evaporating, and he stalked out of the slytherin boys’ dormitory. 

donghyuck didn’t see why jaemin was so touchy about the subject of him liking jeno, it was just a fact. he knew it would come up again later, though, so he decided to leave it alone for the time being.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi this is definitely my shortest chapter and i apologize *_* i have so much inspiration for this fic, but for some reason i struggled a lot writing this chapter. i don’t know why :(( so for now, i’ll just call this a filler chapter. but luckily i do have endless inspiration for chapters following it, so be prepared for chapters that actually surpass 2500 words and have more angst and emotion! <3


	5. a minor grudge.

jaemin sat against donghyuck’s trunk, watching as his best friend fixed his tie before class. 

“so, you and mark, huh?” his lips formed a knowing half smile, one that donghyuck missed when he turned to pull his class robe out of an armoire. 

“you act like you didn’t literally see what happened, nana. he lit my hair on fire.” donghyuck’s sigh was angry and dramatic, and jaemin knew without even seeing his best friend’s face that he was aggressively rolling his eyes. 

“hyuck, i think you know that’s not what i’m referring to.”

donghyuck immediately froze, and although mere seconds passed, it felt like forever before he finally turned around, his expression completely blank. 

“how did you find out?” his voice held about as much emotion as his face, and his words sounded completely monotonous. 

“not from mark, i’ll tell you that.”

silence, followed by a sigh, one much less angry and much more defeated than the one before. donghyuck settled down onto his mattress and twirled his wand around in his fingers, opening and closing his mouth multiple times before finally speaking. 

“i don’t know when it started, or how. i just know i started looking at him more, and i started noticing how often he looked at me. i liked how i felt when i looked at him, i guess it just kind of took off from there.”

“haechannie, i’m your best friend, you could’ve told me. you know i wouldn’t have judged you, if that’s what you were worried about.” 

donghyuck scoffed and looked straight at his best friend. “you have enough on your plate, what with your secret, undying love for mark’s cousin and all. i doubted you needed my infatuation with mark to add onto that.” 

“wait, i’m sorry- my what for mark’s cousin?” jaemin held up a hand, as if to pause the conversation, and shook his head in disbelief. “what are you talking about, hyuck? i don’t have feelings for jeno.”

“oh, please, nana. i see the way you look at him versus the way you look at everyone else. and you’re so much less hard on him than his other friends, something that’s changed drastically in the last year and a half. maybe you don’t realize it, but everyone else does.”

“what? donghyuck, who is everyone?” 

“mark, renjun, i think even the fourth years jeno hangs out with are starting to catch on. it seems like you and jeno himself are the only ones who aren’t aware.” donghyuck chuckled and patted jaemin’s knee. “plus, we all noticed the fact that both of you happened to be missing from your house dorms last night. what were you even doing? because i certainly don’t believe you weren’t together.”

“i was fixing his hair.” jaemin replied absentmindedly, and began twirling his wand around, white wispy smoke emitting from the wand’s tip into the form of his patronus, a small, graceful black and white cat, which slinked around trunks and bedposts. “he was nice, actually.”

“yeah, so is mark, when he has his tongue down my throat and can’t talk. that doesn’t mean he’s tolerable all the time.” donghyuck snorted. 

“hyuck, we didn’t make out. it wasn’t like that, we just talked while i did his hair.”

“you just...talked...to lee jeno? and you enjoyed it? please, nana, please continue what you were saying about how you have absolutely no feelings for jeno, none whatsoever.” 

“i don’t, haechannie. and i never will. end of discussion.”

after that, jaemin stood up and stuffed his wand in the inner pocket of his class robes, his patronus evaporating, and he stalked out of the slytherin boys’ dormitory. 

donghyuck didn’t see why jaemin was so touchy about the subject of him liking jeno, it was just a fact. he knew it would come up again later, though, so he decided to leave it alone for the time being. 

for now, he needed to find mark and jeno, and apologize for the previous night. 

————————

“jeno, i can’t believe you told jaemin about me and donghyuck.” mark groaned quietly as he scribbled down the notes that were quickly appearing and disappearing from the board where professor liu stood. 

“it was only a matter of time before he found out, mark. donghyuck would’ve slipped up eventually.”

“still! i never wanted anyone to find that out, god, imagine if olivia knew i was making out with her ex between classes. she’d never forgive me.”

“mister lee!” 

both jeno and mark snapped their heads up to see professor liu standing in front of their table, her arms crossed. 

“mark, unless you would like to help scrub cauldrons and empty old potion vials after class, i strongly suggest you stop chatting and pay attention.”

mark nodded his head timidly, watching as his professor stalked back to the front of the room and resumed her lesson. he shrank into his seat, his cheeks completely red. 

as soon as professor liu finished her lesson on amortentia and signaled the end of class, mark and jeno shot out of their seats and raced toward the door. 

“so are you and donghyuck going to meet before lunch and, like….” jeno trailed off as they entered the corridor, grimacing at the mere idea of mark and donghyuck doing anything remotely cutesy or romantic. 

“honestly, jeno? after last night, i don’t think i plan on seeing him again at all.” 

“oh, come on. even i’m not that mad at what he did to me anymore! besides, jaemin fixed my hair, so it’s not like what he didn’t had any lasting effect on me.” jeno motioned toward his newly auburn hair, a grin set on his lips. he hoped that maybe mark would lighten up upon hearing that even jeno wasn’t upset with donghyuck, but he quickly realized otherwise upon seeing mark’s reaction. 

“jeno, it’s not about whether you forgive him for this specific instance, it’s about the principle. he constantly does things to get under our skin, whether it’s harassing you, or hexing chenle, or sabotaging renjun’s assignments in class. he enjoys it, and i’m quite tired of having to deal with it. it’s gotten to the point where he knows that no matter what he does, i’ll take him back, but i’m tired of being pushed over. it’s past irritating at this point.” 

jeno guessed mark had a point, he certainly wouldn’t want to be walked all over the way mark was, but he also knew mark would end up being the one hurt if he just flat out ignored donghyuck, and that wasn’t exactly an outcome he wanted. 

“well, speak of the devil.” mark muttered through gritted teeth, and jeno could feel him tense up as they walked. 

when jeno looked up, acting about as casually as he could for someone who was searching for the cause of their conversation, he was met with the sight of lee donghyuck, walking with jo haseul, a ravenclaw sixth year with whom jeno had had a short fling a few years prior, and brian kang, a slytherin seventh year who had transferred from ilvermorny the year before. they were immersed in deep conversation, and both hasaeul and brian were laughing loudly at something donghyuck was saying. he stopped speaking, though, when he saw mark and jeno. 

donghyuck looked directly at mark, and his eyes were full of an emotion that seemed almost longing. he began to step toward the lee duo, but his expression quickly changed when mark marched past him, his face completely blank, and ignored him completely. a mixture of hurt and irritation flashed in donghyuck’s eyes, and before jeno could properly register what was actually happening, donghyuck stormed off, followed by hasaeul and brian, who jogged to catch up with him. 

“mark.” jeno reached his arm out to tug on his cousin’s shoulder. “mark, you know you’re just going to regret acting like this.”

mark immediately spun around, his eyes glassy and his lips pursed. “the only thing i regret is ever starting anything with that lee donghyuck to begin with.”

jeno almost grimaced, but caught himself just as mark strode off toward his next class. instead of following him, jeno turned on his heel and set out to find the only other person he knew would be able to help solve this issue. 

coincidentally, that same person was looking for him. 

as jeno speed-walked down the corridor, he collided head on with the exact person he’d just set out to find- na jaemin. 

they both opened their mouths, and the same words flowed from each boy’s lips. 

“we need to talk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally, FINALLY, an update!! all my apologies for not getting this out sooner, i’ve been in such a slump regarding this chapter because it’s been a bit difficult to write, but luckily i’ve finished it and can finally move on to bigger, more important plot continuations! please make sure to leave comments so i can keep improving this fic! thank u guys for being patient! <3


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